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sharp-clawed runner · Doubtful name
Zapsalis
Say it like this: “zap-SAL-is”
Zapsalis abradens
Zapsalis ate meat and walked on two legs. It lived in the Late Cretaceous. Bones have been found in the United States.
- When
- Late Cretaceous (Campanian) · roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago
- Named in
- 1876 · Cope, E. D.
- Hip height
- Not established
- Length
- Not established
- Weight
- Not established
- Found in
- the United States · Judith River
- Food and walking
- Carnivore · Two legs
- Kind
- sharp-clawed runner · Theropod
- Family branch
- Dromaeosauridae
The story in short
The genus Zapsalis dates to 1876, the year E. D. Cope described it. The name means “pair of scissors.”
It lived in the Late Cretaceous (Campanian), roughly 83.6 to 72.2 million years ago. Finds come from the United States, including the Judith River Formation. It was a carnivore and walked on two legs.
The fossils of Zapsalis are too incomplete for a responsible length, hip height, or weight, so those fields are left blank on purpose.
On the family tree it sits in Dromaeosauridae, among the theropod dinosaurs.
Close relatives
Asiamericana
Asiamericana asiatica
Late Cretaceous (Turonian · Coniacian) · roughly 93.9 to 85.7 million years ago
Balaur
Balaur bondoc
Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago
Dakotaraptor
Dakotaraptor steini
Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) · roughly 72.2 to 66 million years ago